Soaked to the Boiler
by AaronCottrell97
Summary: There's a storm about to approach Sodor, and Rosie has one last job to finish before she can turn in for the night. But as the storm rages on, Rosie is soaked to the boiler and doesn't have enough dry coal to make it back to Vicarstown, so she has to seek refuge somewhere else. More accurately, with someone else.


After a most uncomfortable heatwave that caused Emily to be faced with burst tubes and a lot of teasing from Diesel, who ended up in hot trouble himself, all the engines were much happier with the more tolerable weather through the summer. Over time, the water on the shoreline cooled down enough for people to go swimming again, and Percy was much more comfortable delivering the mail through the night, with much cooler temperatures. And so the rest of the summer didn't have much more trouble to throw…until a different sort of trouble would cross into Rosie's path.

One day in August, the engines were all working hard. Especially Rosie. She had been working ever since sunrise that day, never making any fuss and simply enjoying everything she did. But through it all, she still missed being with Stanley and couldn't wait for her next chance to see him. In spite of living all the way at Vicarstown Sheds right on the borderline between Sodor and the Mainland, she still loved Stanley beyond everything and held onto hope for the next time they'd be together.

Then as evening began to fall, most of the engines had finished their day's work and made their way back to their sheds. But Rosie was still busy with one more job. She had to deliver some building supplies to Maron Station, then she would be done for the day, but big grey clouds began to loom overhead.

Rosie stopped at a red signal and saw Emily. "Hello, Emily. How are you?"

"I've been feeling much better since that heatwave ended, Rosie," said Emily. "But I think you should get home. It looks like there's a storm coming."

"I still have one more delivery to make, Emily," said Rosie. "I'm not letting a rainstorm stop me from being really useful."

Then the signal went green and Rosie went on her way, while Emily made her way back to Tidmouth Sheds.

Before long, the clouds covered the sky completely. Rosie looked up at the ominous-looking sky, but she wasn't afraid. The clouds moved steadily through the sky and began to curl together. A clap of thunder suddenly rumbled through the air, making Rosie look up again. Then without warning, it began to rain very steadily. But Rosie did not care. She huffed on through the rain as it fell harder and harder. Every few minutes, a boom of thunder would make her heart jump, but she was still not afraid.

Then, the wind began to blow rather strongly. That was enough to slow Rosie down a little, but her intention to finish her job would not let her stop. She began to feel a cold as the wind blew roughly against her face and the rain streamed down her boiler.

"Ugh!" she shivered, and began to feel her fire weaken ever-so slightly as her coal was slowly becoming damp. As hard as she worked, she began to feel weak, and she began to wish she was in her nice dry shed at Vicarstown.

She managed to reach Maron Station and deliver her load. She left her trucks in a siding, but by now, the rain was falling even harder than before, and her fire would not hold out much longer.

"Oh dear, Rosie," said her driver. "Vicarstown is too far for us to reach. Your coal would become too wet and we'd get stuck out there! There must be another shed that's closer!"

Rosie shuddered against the rain. "Oh no! I must find somewhere dry…and I think I know where I want to go!"

Then Rosie whistled as strongly as she could and she set off, struggling even harder now for the only shed she could think of that she would find true warmth at…

Stanley was in his shed, feeling safe and secure out of the rain pummeling down outside. He wondered how Rosie was doing and wished she could be here with him tonight to keep him company during this wet weather. He was just about ready to fall asleep in perfect harmony, sheltered from the storm outside. But then, he heard a voice he had not heard for quite a long while.

"Stanley? Stanley?!"

Stanley did not feel sleepy anymore. He froze and listened very closely. "Stanley? Are you there?"

Stanley knew that voice anywhere and suddenly felt very excited. "Goodness, that sounds like Rosie!"

He hastily buffered to the shed doors and pushed them open. He began to huff outside, but then his smile fell away at what he saw. There was Rosie, looking miserable, wet and cold. It was such a depressing image for him to see. He had not seen Rosie for quite a while now since he helped her feel better after some of Farmer McColl's cows blocked her track and made her late. He had been hoping to see her again, but to see her like this made him feel so sorry for her. Her paintwork had been slightly darkened by the falling rain and her soaking face made it look like she was crying as the rain trailed down her cheeks. Then her lips flinched and her eyes shut, before she let out a big sneeze.

"Rosie? Oh dear! What are you doing here?" Stanley asked worriedly.

"St-St-Stanley…" Rosie shivered and snorted from the cold rain. "Can y-you please h-help me?"

"Oh, of course, Rosie! Come in, please!" Stanley buffered to Rosie and pulled her right inside as the doors shut behind her. As soon as that happened, the sound of the rain was drowned out quite a lot.

"Thank you, Stanley," Rosie wheezed before coughing hard from how cold she was. "Oh, I'm so wet!"

"What happened to you, Rosie?" asked Stanley. "What are you doing out in this soaking weather?"

"I've been working all day, Stanley," said Rosie. "I still had a delivery to make to Maron Station. But along the way, it suddenly began to rain so hard, and the wind blew so strongly, it was almost too much for me. I can't go back to Vicarstown now. The rain would soak my coal so much, I'd get stuck out there!"

"Dear me, Rosie! I hate to see you like this!" Stanley lamented. "Is there anything I can do for you right now?"

Rosie looked up and began to beg. "Please, Stanley! Please let me stay here until the rain stops! I haven't seen you for a long time now, and I just want to feel that you're right here with me!"

Stanley could never say no to his rose, and immediately answered. "Of course you can stay here, Rosie. I can't let you catch cold out there anymore!"

"Really? Can I stay here with you tonight?" Rosie asked, perking up.

Stanley buffered to Rosie and kissed her cheek. "It's exactly what I was hoping for anyway. You're always welcome here, darling."

Rosie giggled happily and kissed Stanley on his cheek in return. "Only one problem at this point, though," she said. "I'm still wet and cold from the rain, and my coal is too wet for my fire. How can I stay warm now?"

"Simple, my love," said Stanley. "Take mine."

Stanley's driver shoveled a good amount of coal from his bunker and went into Rosie's cab to shovel it into her firebox. Rosie immediately felt warmer and dryer as she felt her fire build up again.

"Ohh, Stanley…your coal feels so warm," she sighed. "But I'm still not warm enough…can you help me with that?"

Stanley suddenly looked coy and suggestive. "My lovely rose…that's what I live for when I'm not working." And he buffered to Rosie and began kissing her cheeks. Rosie giggled even more as she felt her cheeks getting warmer and warmer with every kiss Stanley gave her.

"That's it, Stanley…" she whispered. "I missed you dearly."

"So did I, Rosie," Stanley answered. "I just want you to relax tonight. You're safe in here with me. You've made tonight much better for me."

Rosie squealed with delight and began kissing Stanley all over his face as fast as she could. Stanley laughed heartily as he felt Rosie's lips again. It made him so happy to see her again and seeing her be happy again made it even better.

"Oh, Rosie! I love you so much!" he exclaimed.

"I love you too, Stanley," Rosie replied. "This is the best gift I could ever hope for after being so badly soaked out there!"

Rosie finished her wild kisses, then changed her approach. She puckered her lips again and kissed Stanley on the lips. Stanley kissed her right back and touched his face to hers. Rosie moaned softly as she felt his cheeks rubbing gently on hers. She felt so warm right now, it was like she was never caught in the rain to begin with. The warm shelter of the sheds, Stanley's warm face and his warm lips made it all too perfect.

Stanley absolutely loved feeling Rosie's lips upon his again. He suddenly began kissing Rosie more deeply, gently tugging on her lips and making her whimper happily. Rosie felt her boiler tingling all over as she melted deeper and deeper into her kiss with Stanley. For about an hour, Rosie and Stanley were in utter euphoria as they kept kissing to their cheeks, rubbing their faces together and exchanging deep, passionate kisses to the lips, all while Rosie felt lovely and warm again after such an uncomfortable ride in the rain.

Eventually, Rosie and Stanley felt very sleepy and were ready to enjoy a loving night's sleep together again after quite a while.

"Ohh, Stanley," Rosie yawned as she softly kissed Stanley's cheek, then nibbled it gently. "Thank you so much…for letting me stay here. I love you so much."

"You're welcome, Rosie," Stanley replied as he kissed and nibbled her cheek in return. "I love you too. So much."

They shared another deep, loving kiss, then the two of them fell asleep together. Rosie felt very happy indeed to spend a night with Stanley again, especially after being soaked to the boiler, only to be warmed up again in the best way she could ever enjoy. And Stanley felt happy too to see her again, make her feel better and have another night with her. It was a very fine night indeed.

* * *

We're getting closer and closer to Thomas' return, I know you're all looking forward to it. Not long now, so tell us what you thought of this one, and we'll see you with the next story.


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